Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa

I have been dabbling in becoming a vegan for sometime. Being of Middle Eastern decent I found it hard to know what dishes to make without meat or animal byproducts as a good amount call for the use of these ingredients. Although this book isn’t vegan (still calls for use of animal byproducts). It does help with more ideas with vegetable based dishes. There are a lot of very familiar recipes and I’m presently surprised to see new ones (for me). The book contains a wide variety of recipes from appetizers, breads, soups, salads all the way to sweets and drinks. It’s definitely not lacking in ideas for all your eating/drinks recipes. I can’t wait to make some of these delicious recipes.Oh and there is a section in the back that list where you can purchase spices/items from local grocery stores. I don’t think every state/region but it still provides a good number of places.

Good recipes, but if you are familiar with Middle Eastern cooking this is unfortunately nothing new.

This book is amazing. It has no pictures - don't let that turn you off. The recipes are so clear and simple. Everything turns out really well. I was looking for ways to get us to eat more vegetables, and this is the ticket.

I'm sure most people reading about "vegetarian middle-eastern" cookbooks are good cooks when they have the time and inclination. But I, for one, have grown bored with my own repertoire. Most cookbooks are more fun to read than to actually cook from. Or they have ingredients that, even living in New York City, seem annoyingly inaccessible.This book has lots of very easy recipes that are healthy vegetarian (hardly any animal fat with the exception of yoghurt in cold dishes). I can imagine actually(!) making just about everything, there's even a section on arab desserts -- the easy kind made of farina. This is probably the best cookbook I've ever bought. I think it's useful whatever your level of cooking expertise, but you need to be a fan of the meditterranean diet. We're talking beans, legumes, olive oil, yoghurt, eggplant, a few other vegetables. Recipe details:-- it's true most are simple, but unless you were raised in a middle-eastern family I don't know how you would've thought of these combinations -- even if you're say very familiar with Greek or Italian food, I think this is pretty new stuff.Some "recipes" include: yoghurt ginger appetizer (includes almonds, onions, ginger, tomato);many types of lentil soups from various middle eastern countries (the egyptian one includes butter and cumin, the one from bahrain adds tomato, vermicelli, and ground coriander);fried pepper salad; orange and olive salad; beet salad; stuffed eggplant; and vegetable casserole.Nothing sounds 'exciting' but it is all very accessible and well seasoned. It's like you could turn to this book and make every meal from it -- that is if you like meditterranean food.

I have had a copy of this book for over two decades. My original copy was hard cover. I took it with me to Kenya, where I lived for fifteen years, and it provided all kinds of recipes for me to work on. I liked all the recipes, and what's more important, my Kenyan driver, liked all the recipes (and he is not instinctively a vegetarian!). It is one of my favorite cookbooks, and I own over 1300.

My doctor encouraged me to go vegetarian, but I love Arabic food full of meat recipes. Habeeb Salloum combined the history of the foods with recipes that open the range of Arabic vegetarian dishes from North Africa to the Arabian peninsula. The recipes remain very close to the traditional, as least for the dishes I know. I may be able to find enough different foods to be able to attempt to be more of a vegetarian because of this book. I was saddened to learn that the author passed away. He has left a fine legacy with this book.

Though I am usually drawn to cookbooks with abundant pictures, I have spent hours poring through Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa. It is at once a travel log and an invitation to share in the simplicity of good food and hospitality. The reader feels included in Mr. Salloum's quest for recipes remembered and his enjoyment of recipes discovered. Mr. Salloum's writing opens the doors both to rich cultural histories and to the simple present moments of a meals shared. Every recipe is headed by written descriptions that defy the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. He shares the stories of his travels and discoveries, the warm traditions of the various cultures, as well practical and nutritional information. His writing transports, educates, and informs, whetting one's appetite for travel as well as good, simple food. The recipes are straightforward and clearly explained and therein accessible to even a novice in the kitchen. This book and the recipes it shares are a respite from the glad-handing and flashy style of today's tourist and cooking industries. Through his eloquent work, Mr. Salloum leaves one feeling nourished by an excellent meal in the sincere and congenial company of gracious hosts.

This is an excellent cookbook. It is full of recipes that are both delicious, economical, relatively simple to make. The ingredients for most of these recipes can be found at any supermarket (I’d only have to order 2 or 3 ingredients online to make every recipe in this book).Before each recipe there is also a lovely bit of prose describing the history of the recipe or its ingredient

Absolutely brilliant! Packed with short, simple, amazing recipes, with a great mix of familiar/exotic ideas to jazz-up even the most jaded palate. Each recipe has a brief introduction, often fascinating in its own right. Basically, this could be described as Ottolenghi for people who are terrified of Ottolenghi ;-))There are no pictures, which is fine, as that leaves all the more space for recipes.As with all cookbooks originating in the US, measurements are in cups etc...a minor inconvenience. Just work out how many of your handfuls equal one cup!Struggling to think of a better vegetarian cookbook TBH... Would make a superb alternative to all those boring "cookbooks" aimed at students and beginners etc... You could live very well and cheaply on this book alone, with minimal skills and washing-up. Six stars.And if you're so inclined, it's very instructive to contrast and compare this "Middle Eastern peasant food" with our "Western mass-produced artificial food"...

this is one of my favourite cookbooks. The only reason I give 4 stars is that I would love some pictures. Whilst I love north african food, I am not too familiar with what things should look like. The recipes are simple and very tasty and many of them I have tried and made time again.

Excellent book and excellent service also. Many thanks.. A.L. Hill

Excellent. Pictures would have been nice, but all of the recipes are doable and delicious!

Loses one star for no pictures